How to Choose the Right Color Scheme for Your New Website

Did you know that 85% of customers usually purchase based on color? This shows how important color is to a website. And if you’re building a new website or revamping an existing one, it is crucial to consider the color choices.

Your website is a reflection of your brand, so you must have the appropriate color palettes that align with it. It’s important to take your brand’s color identity seriously. There’s a color psychology and theory that correlates to your brand’s personality and voice, which you should use throughout your website and communications.

Introduction to the color scheme for a website

Color is a big part of branding, and your website’s colors are equally important. Colors evoke emotions and increase brand recognition. Your website’s colors shouldn’t only be based on what you think looks good but also on what works for your brand and website. This means the buttons and other details must have color consistency to help with conversions.

Indeed, there’s science behind it all, and choosing the best color for a website design should be part of your branding strategy. Your website designer should be able to guide you through the process and offer tips to ensure you’ll have the best website color schemes to choose from.

Why is choosing the right color scheme important?

Every website must have a selection of color palettes that match its brand. The goal is to increase engagement, so you need to plan what you’ll have on your site and how things will be arranged. Visitors will likely see your landing page first, so ensure it’s aesthetically pleasing. The content presented is also a big factor, so ensure it has the right color combinations to make it work.

Here’s how the right website colors will improve your site’s user experience:

• Recognition – Customers will likely recognize your brand when you use the same color schemes across your branding materials. For example, over 90% of users tested could identify Google just by the colors alone.
• Perception – Colors help shape your brand’s perception and help people understand your tone. Brands have different elements of personality that must be conveyed in their site’s color palettes.
• Order – Your chosen colors have a special order. Specific relationships between colors make them stand out on top of each other, like bright colors and primary colors working in harmony.

Now that you know more about color scheme and its importance, let’s move on to the best practices you should apply.

5 ways to choose the perfect color scheme for your website 

There are limitless options when it comes to selecting your color scheme. Below are the sections that outline essential tips on choosing a website color scheme:

1. Know what your color represents

Start by considering the message and emotions you want to convey with your chosen color scheme. What ideas do you want to associate with your brand? Do you want to communicate your prestige and power? Or focus on associating your brand with a happy family or team?

After knowing what you want your colors to convey, you can start considering where on the spectrum you want your color scheme to be part of.

2. Pick your primary colors first 

Next, start choosing your main colors. Find a color that fits well with the strongest themes or associations you want your audience to have with your brand. This color will be prominently featured across your web pages. After you’ve selected a primary color, you can experiment with various color combinations to elevate it and create a full-color scheme.

3. Choose a palette with contrast 

You’ll need to choose a palette that allows you to contrast your colors while still allowing them to fit together perfectly. Accent colors should stand out when placed side by side yet still complement each other. Check where the main color falls on the color wheel and the secondary colors that match the shades you want to use. 

4. Consider your brand’s aesthetics

When choosing your brand colors, think about the aesthetics that match your brand. A business that focuses on delivering a modern and sleek design through color doesn’t have a website with excessive content. This will make your website look busy, causing visitors to miss out on the essential information among the clutter. Your site is where language, imagery, and colors work together and create a substantial effect on the customer’s minds.

5. Test your color scheme

After selecting your color scheme, test it across multiple devices. See how it looks on mobile devices, desktop computers, and anywhere else where customers can engage with your site. This will offer valuable insights into how the color scheme broadcasts your website and brand.

Once the color scheme goes live, you’ll see how your customers respond to it and how it impacts conversions, site interest, and other key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you understand brand engagement.

Best color scheme for a website

When putting your website together, the color scheme should directly complement your brand. The best color schemes are the ones that connect with your audience. You can compare color schemes or experiment with one or two colors for different audiences to see which performs better. You don’t have to decide on the first color scheme you’ve come up with, but you need to consider which color will be timeless for your brand.

Here are the different colors you should consider as they can affect your audience based on your brand’s personality:

• Red – Excitement and happiness.
• Orange – Fun and friendliness.
• Green – Nature, money and freshness.
• Yellow – Optimism and cheerfulness.
• Purple – Creativity and quality.
• Blue – Confidence and dependability.
• Brown – Reliability and vigor.
• Black – Elegance and classy.
• White – Friendly, simple and clean.

Depending on your industry and the image you want to present to your audience, these colors will have a huge impact on how they perceive your brand. Even though you want your website to be aesthetically pleasing, the colors you choose must be initiated correctly for the best effect. This means your user experience should also include the text you use and how it blends with your chosen colors.

Another thing to think about is the design. Will your website be responsive? (I hope it will!) This significantly impacts the design and application of color. The choice of color palette plays a crucial role in how your website appears on mobile devices. Choosing the right colors not only enhances the overall design but also streamlines the process of creating the site.

Build your color scheme

After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of why having the right color scheme is crucial for building your website and maintaining your brand. It’s easy to decide on a color from the top of your mind, but picking the right one will draw people to your business in multiple ways. By understanding color scheme theory and how to work with it, you’ll figure out how to display the right colors to reflect your brand’s voice and personality.

References and resources:

• Color Psychology: How To Use it in Marketing and Branding by Hubspot
• Adobe Color Wheel